Hamilton hospitals ask for ‘patience and understanding’ amid mounting pressure
Hamilton Health Sciences' chief of emergency medicine is asking the community for patience and understanding" as the city's health-care system continues to grapple with mounting pressure.
The appeal comes just days after the hospital network announced it would be opening 30 more beds at the downtown Satellite Health Facility in an attempt to keep acute care beds open at other health centres.
Dr. Kuldeep Sidhu told The Spectator the city's hospitals, including Hamilton General Hospital and Juravinski Hospital, are seeing very high volumes" of patients at their emergency departments, stretching them far beyond capacity.
Sidhu said on average, the emergency room at the General is seeing upwards of 150 patients per day, which is approximately 50 per cent more than its normal capacity.
People are feeling the weight of the health-care system being overtaxed and stressed," he said. This is a people-helping-people profession and those people are trying to do the best they can."
Sidhu said Juravinski has routinely been operating at more than 110 per cent capacity - putting cancer, cardiac and joint surgeries at risk."
Some operations have already been cancelled or delayed, he noted, while those considered to be the highest priority" have been able to happen. There is also a massive surgical backlog still hanging over the region as a result of the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, nearly 170 staff members from across the hospital network were isolating due to COVID-19 while four units were in outbreak, said spokesperson Wendy Stewart.
Sidhu said the inability to discharge hundreds of alternate level of care (ALC) patients to long-term care (LTC), rehabilitation, complex continuing care, mental-health care and home care also contributes to capacity issues.
And with the entire system continuously operating at at least 110 per cent capacity, Sidhu noted that they have around 90 to 100 beds that are not funded.
That's the size of a small hospital," he added.
In an email to The Spectator, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton spokesperson Maria Hayes said pressures are still a concern" for its hospital network.
Heading into Labour Day weekend, known as a time for historic congestion," Hamilton Health Sciences is appealing to the community to consider health-care alternatives such as visiting their family doctor or one of the city's urgent care centres.
If a resident does need emergency care, updated wait times are posted online and should be considered when picking where to go, said Sidhu.
We're asking for the community's patience and understanding if they do end up in the emergency room," said Sidhu. We're really overtaxed and stressed right now."
Fallon Hewitt is a reporter at The Spectator. fhewitt@thespec.com